This invention relates to exit doors with panic bars and in particular to a new and improved operating mechanism for the door. A typical exit door has a horizontal bar mounted on the door by lever arms, with the bar positioned at about waist height so that it can be operated manually and also can be operated by pressure from the body of a person at the door.
Various panic door operating mechanisms are shown in the prior art. In the U.S. Pat. No. 3,123,387 to Jackson et al., the horizontal bar 34 is carried on levers 33 with an inner end of one of the levers engaging a pin 37 carried in a vertically sliding member 35. Another pin 42 is carried in the sliding member and engages a lower connector 50 which is coupled to an upper connector 53 by a rotating plate 57. Lower and upper vertical rods are attached to the lower and upper connectors, respectively, for moving the ends of the rods out of engagement with lower and upper latch plates.
An alternative arrangement is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,334,500 to Bejarno which utilizes a link 102 between the inner end of the lever and a pin 104, with the pin driving a lower connector.
Another variation is shown in the DOR-O-MATIC design with the inner end of lever engaging a pin carried in the lower connector and with the lower and upper rods coupled to the respective connectors by angle bars.
Another version of panic bar mechanism is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,335 to Schmidt. In this design, the inner end of the lever is coupled to a pin in the lower connector by a removable link 100. The lower bar is connected to the same pin, with the upper bar similarly connected to the upper connector, with both connectors coupled to the rotating plate. In all of the models, provision can be made for also rotating the plate by a key actuated lock mechanism.
The links used in prior art designs have a tendency to create weak points and make the installation of the mechanism more difficult. Also the relatively large number of parts in the prior art units increases the possibility of defects and/or malfunction and difficulty in installation and, when not correctly aligned, cause functional problems.